DEFINING CONTEMPORARY JEWELRY AND ITS RELATION TO VISUAL ART

L’ESTONIA A PADOVA and other goodies

This post is a bit overdue. I had the pleasure of going to Padova at the beginning of December to attend some contemporary jewelry exhibition openings, including Pensieri Preziosi 8, Gioielli dall’Estonia at Marijke Studio, Helfried Kodré: New Works at Galleria Daniele, Vetro Contemporaneo at Studio GR20, and One_first act presented by Padova’s Mixed Media Foundation.

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Pensieri Preziosi 8, La magica poesia

Oratorio di San Rocco in Padova, Italy

click –> here to see the post from last year… it’s really quite interesting to compare the artists from Estonia to Italians who were showcased the year before. Both regions still seem to value traditional material (…metal) more than other geographic regions (…Germany, Holland…), congruent with a relative and local history. And much like the specifically Padovan tradition in goldsmithing, where one can easily see a well maintained lineage between the artists, the Estonians (although not as strongly) here are visually tied to one another and stand as a unique and even fresh group in the world of contemporary jewelry. I’m always a sucker for artists that can utilize time honored making practices in contemporary ways, and these guys are doing it pretty well.

For me this show was probably the most fun, just because I had never been to the gallery before, and because the list of jewelry artists is short and solid. Seeing Beate Eismann’s work was a delight, as well as my good friend Andrea’s work ( I don’t think I’ve ever had this much time to look at any of her pieces!). The gallery is also gorgeous.

Below are the only two photos I could get. For more info and fotos, click—> here

Above: Beate Eismann

Below : a couple of superstars at the gallery: from the left Kardri Malk, Helfried Kodré, and Stefano Marchetti

This exhibtion, described as a “living” intallation of international contemporay jewelry, focused on dichotomies of uniqueness/seriality, value/economy, etc…
Artists printed images of their work which were made into simple button pins and the public was invited to detach them and wear them as they wished. The show functioned as more of a preview (“First Act”), as each orignal piece shown as an image will be on display at the show, ONE… which I can’t seem to find any info about. 30 international artists participated.